PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh volleyball team (10-6, 1-1) plays its first conference home matches of the season this weekend as the Panthers host the University of Cincinnati (3-11, 1-1) and the No. 17 University of Louisville (12-2, 1-1) inside Fitzgerald Field House.

The Friday evening match with the Bearcats is set for 7 p.m. and will be filmed on Pittsburgh Panthers Television. The broadcast will run Sunday morning at 11 a.m. on Comcast (Channels 188 or 210).

Pittsburgh’s Alexa Campbell is coming off her first career Big East Weekly Honor Roll recognition for leading the Panthers in kills in all three matches last week. Campbell collected 45 spikes, including a career-high 21 in a victory at Rutgers. With 126 kills on the season (team-high), Campbell has already surpassed her previous single-season record of 106 kills which she set in 2010.

Margy Acton continues to be one of the elite liberos in the league, as this week she ranks third amongst Big East liberos in digs per set. Acton is averaging 5.27 digs per set, and trails only UConn’s Kelsey Maving and Villanova’s Mariah Henley in that category.

Pittsburgh will be playing just its fourth and fifth home matches of the season this weekend against UC and Louisville. The Panthers played 13 of their first 16 contests away from Fitzgerald Field House. Pitt is 3-0 at home this season.

The Panthers look to defeat the Cardinals for the second-straight season. Pittsburgh handed Louisville its only regular-season conference loss last year with a 3-1 victory at Louisville.

The Cardinals were ranked as high as No. 10 in the AVCA national polls until suffering a loss at Notre Dame last week, which knocked the U of L back to 17th. Senior Lola Arslanbekova is the reigning Big East Player of the Year and she is currently leading the league in kills per set (4.73).

Despite being picked to finish second in the Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the Bearcats enters the weekend at 3-11. Cincinnati, the 2011 Big East Tournament champions, have suffered eight of their 11 losses to nationally-ranked opponents.

It is back on the road after these two matches for Pittsburgh as the Panthers are at Marquette and Syracuse next weekend.